Avoiding Gear Acquisition Syndrome

Came across this old article on Harmony-central.com 'bout GAS, its a good read for anyone with or without the GAS impulse, as Brett Ratner attempts to help you cure GAS:

[By Brett Ratner]

GAS differs in that the compulsive need to "tweak your rig" supersedes the
desire to improve as a player, compose music, record, (and if you have
aspirations of playing professionally) seek gigs. Another common trait of a
GAS-inflicted individual is the tendency to impulsively trade in a perfectly
good piece of equipment for a seemingly more desirable piece of equipment (often
at a loss of money) and later regret the transaction.

The purpose of
"Avoiding Gear Acquisition Syndrome" is to pass along knowledge that this
journalist learned the hard way (I too had GAS). In other words, hopefully this
column can eliminate "trial and error" purchases and save you money and hassle
by helping you make lasting, educated purchases (and make them on the FIRST
TRY). The goal here is to get stuff that you're happy with and makes you sound
good... not stuff you'll wanna unload in six months.

Another benefit of
educated purchasing is that you achieve a solid foundation for your instrument
setup. This frees you up to buy additional gear just for the fun of it (versus
an urgent need to get your tone up to par). For example, when I finally settled
on a single guitar and a single amp that I liked, I didn't "need" to get
anything new. Thus I was liberated to the point where I could just have fun
collecting pedals (cuz I "wanted" to). Someone else, on the other hand, may
discover a particular amp and pedal arrangement that works, thus freeing him or
her to collect guitars. The more crucial point is that the sooner you figure out
what works for you and stick with it, the quicker you can move on to becoming a
better player.

Part 1: Assembling the Classic Amp Setup
Part 2: The Modern Style Guitar Amp
Part 3: Assembling a Usable Rack System
Part 4: Tone Is In the Fingers (Choosing Quality Gear)
Part 5: Buying What You Want Vs. What You Can Afford (A Suggested Guitar Rig)
Part 6: Assembling a Professional Pedalboard
Part 7: Building a Bass Rig from Scratch

There's even a Gear Acquisition Syndrome Self Test, to determine if you really are a GearWhore!
Proceed to the TEST!

Here's the Link to the Full Article: Avoiding Gear Acquisition Syndrome